Childhood years are the most formative years and a time where children form lifelong habits. Just like any routine, a health and hygiene routine is also very important. Dental hygiene is often ignored by a lot of parents considering their kids very young to brush their pearly whites. Also, many children cry, scream and complain when it comes to brushing and parents find it easier to skip teeth-brushing altogether rather than putting in the effort.
Baby teeth, or “primary” teeth, help children chew food, but they also help your child form words and sounds for speaking. Brushing them regularly with the right substances reduces the bacterial plaque that builds up on teeth daily, preventing the decay and tooth loss that is possible over time. Your child’s teeth are also necessary space-holders in the jaw, prior to the arrival of permanent teeth. If they develop decay or fall out prematurely, your child may suffer improper development and eruption in the second set of teeth that are supposed to last them well into adulthood.

Brush & paste

*Before eruption of teeth finger tooth brush can be used on gums and tongue. If you cant get that then a clean gauze piece wrapped around the fingers can be dipped in water andused for cleaning the gums and tongue.
*After appearance of the teeth, tooth brush( which has soft bristles, a wide handle and a small head ) can be used. Brush with just plain water.
*As soon as the toddler learns spitting, introduce rice grain size tooth paste.
*By two years of age blob of toothpaste shall be increased to pea size which continues till 5years of age.

Babies are very good copycats. Brush along with them so they watch, learn and then practically implement.
Keep on verbally repeating the entire procedure …..and demonstrate how to rotate water in the mouth and spitting…then introduce tooth paste.

-Youtube has videos with poems on brushing teeth… See if they could help you teach the sequence of brushing.

Up and down, round and round.
Left and right, morning and night!

-create a teeth brushing story.It can be “sugar bugs” or “teeth monsters” attacking your teeth, and the only way to destroy them is to brush and clean your teeth with some water and toothpaste.

– story books available on brushing help build the concept as well.

– brushing teeth should be done twice a day. EVERY DAY. When you start something, you have to stick to it to make it a habit.
– make sure kid does it for complete 2 minutes.
– try to make it a fun time for kids but not so much so as to loose focus from brushing.
– making a kid choose his own tooth brush with his favorite character on it helps keep him entertained.

Toothpaste:

The main difference between ADULT toothpaste and toothpaste designed just for KIDS is the AMOUNT of fluoride they contain. Fluoride is one of the best ways to protect both permanent and baby teeth from decay but kodd need very little amount of it on daily basis.
Children’s toothpastes typically have less fluoride to help kids from getting too much of it. Reason being that when kids are exposed to too much fluoride, their teeth may form little white spots known as fluorosis.
Hence use pea sized baby toothpaste till 5 years of age then switch to normal toothpaste.

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